N.C. Fire Department's Flu Policy Deemed Successful

March 04--In December, Fayetteville Fire Department officials dusted off unused preventative flu policies that aimed to keep firefighters sick free during the flu season.

There's no way to determine who would or would not have gotten sick without the procedures in place, said Scott Bullard, the city's emergency management coordinator.

Bullard, however, said no major illness has swept through the department so far this winter.

"We didn't have the absentism that we were afraid that might happen," he said.

The policies were first constructed by fire department officials in May 2009 following the country's deadly swine flu outbreak and include restrictions on responder procedures and a detailed decontamination process.

"It's funny how that original plan was built for a whole lot worse," Bullard said.

Until December, though, they were simply on the books but had not been enacted.

Bullard said in December officials decided to put the procedures in place once it was determined this flu season proved to be fierce and deadly.

Since Oct. 6, 2012, there have been 44 flu deaths in the state. When the policy was enacted in December, there had only been about a dozen deaths in the state.

Bullard said officials planned to review how the policy affected the department, but noted the flu season is not yet over. However, he thought the worst may be over for Fayetteville.

"I have a sense ours kind of peaked early this year," he said.

Staff writer Caitlin Dineen can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3509.

Copyright 2013 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.